.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO Fly Like an Eagle Lessons in courage from the producer of The Rookie. BY JASON BLAIR INVINCIBLE: Directed by Ericson Core. Written by Brad Gann. Cinematography, Ericson Core. Music, Mark Isham. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks and Kevin Conway. Walt Disney Pictures, 2006. PG. 105 minutes. Mark Wahlberg and Elizabeth Banks in Invincible. To scholars and hermits who still believe in dictionaries, "invincible" means unconquerable or incapable of being subdued. But the new film Invincible is putting wordsmiths on notice: "Invincible" isn't invincible any longer. A scrappy but highly romanticized film about the NFL career of former bartender Vince Papale, "invincible" doesn't exactly leap to mind as you watch Vince getting his ribs broken. What comes to mind is "crushable," meaning able to be shattered by pounding or grinding. But there's a secret message in the smarty title: Invincible, meaning not having the qualities of Vince. In other words, Vince Papale isn't like us. Vince Papale is special. Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) is also looking for a job. As Invincible takes great pains to point out, working-class Philadelphia in the 1970s is a place of Dickensian poverty. Good men are everywhere, but good jobs are nonexistent. Factories are closing, marriages are rupturing and — worst of all — the Philadelphia Eagles are losing. To stay sane (and sober), Vince and his friends play sandlot football, a neighborhood tradition with a third-world feel, what with the fistfights and absence of protective gear. As any of Vince's y-chromosome friends will tell you — that's Maxy, Tommy, Johnny or Petey — Vincey can really play some football. But Vince is getting divorced before we even know he's married. Vince thinks he might be a loser. When the Eagles announce open tryouts for Philly residents, Vince is too wounded to risk another failure. Since the outcome of Invincible is never in doubt, it's up to director Ericson Core (The Fast and the Furious) to make us feel as if Vince has nowhere left to turn. Vince's half-baked thrashing of his apartment doesn't cut it. Walhberg's Vince is the same mix of pride and decency that made his Eddie so engrossing in Boogie Nights (1997). But Invincible is a sports film that doesn't transcend the genre, requiring Wahlberg only to look taciturn and mopey without a hint of motivation. We aren't surprised when Vince shows up at football tryouts, because nothing important about Invincible is surprising. At least the on-field action is exciting. The tryout scenes don't redeem the movie, but even non-sports fans will enjoy the pure fun of Vince trying to make the team. Vince makes the team, of course, and life is good in the neighborhood. But inside the Eagles' locker room it's a completely different story. His hustle makes the veterans look lazy. Even the trainer has it in for him. Can Vince help the team find its character in time for the Eagles to win the big game? Can Vince win the heart of the girl who shows up the same night his wife leaves him? This wannabe gridiron Rocky never leaves any outcome in doubt. It's a shame, because once Vince takes to the field, the football scenes are the best I've ever seen. Vince is anointed as a saint from the start, but I'll take a sinner any day. Vince's choir? A continuous soundtrack of popular hits from the 1970s. To director Core, there isn't a scene in Invincible that can't be improved by a period song. But I don't need to hear "How Long (Has This Been Going On)?" after a character's infidelity is revealed. Seriously. I understood the first time. I distrust movies that use their soundtracks as a running commentary on the action. Invincible is one of those movies.
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